This help topic describes the
current
PDXpert PLM release. Earlier releases may be different.
To view your release's version of this topic, open
PDXpert and press the F1 key or select
the Help menu.

Manage documents

Documents convey the design, construction, service and support information of
a product or process. In PDXpert, you can create a document record that is an "index
card" or "container" for an electronic file, or identifies a real physical object
rendered on paper or other media, such as photographic film.

When you open a new document window in PDXpert, you're not creating the actual
document, but describing attributes about the document. The actual document may,
however, be a file attachment, which is listed on the document record's
Files tab and stored in the PDXpert file library.

These are the basic ideas for managing documents:

A document database record is identified primarily by the document's
owner, type, and number. Within the document record, there are one or more document
iterations. Each iteration has a technical content identifier (e.g.,
Revision A) and a business lifecycle phase (such as Preliminary
or Production). While the document iteration is
pending,
you can identify references, attach computer files, and modify it however you
want.

You establish reference relationships by dragging items from the Item Explorer's
Search or Previous
lists, and dropping them onto the Markup list
of the document's References tab. References
can be customer drawings, industry specifications and regulatory requirements;
you can also identify physical parts such as tools and equipment used in a test
or calibration procedure.

When you've finished entering information on the document record, you
release the document iteration by adding it to an
implementing change form's Affected
tab and then approving the change form. After the change form has been approved,
the document is released and the reference relationships are formalized and
appear on the Current list on the
References tab.

Many of the released document's attributes are locked and can never
be modified;

Some attributes can be modified by members of the item trustee and product
team; and

Some document attributes (such as references) can be modified only by
creating a new pending iteration of the document.

You
cancel a previously released document iteration by adding it to a new
implementing change form's Affected tab,
and approving that change form. (You don't need to remove references before
canceling the document, so there is no change to the References
tab.) A document iteration is canceled when (a) a replacement
iteration is released, or (b) when the document is obsolete and no further iterations
are desired.

To indicate a document is no longer acceptable for use, you
can choose to release a new iteration with lifecycle of (say)
Obsolete, or to cancel the currently-released iteration.
The practical difference is whether you want the system to enforce its rules
for canceled items.

Canceling the document ensures that (a) it can't
be canceled unless it's also removed from all parent references; (b) after it's
canceled, the document can't be added to a new Markup
list; and (c) users can be prevented from opening the document through role
permissions. The document can be easily reactivated by creating and releasing
a new iteration, even with the same revision and lifecycle.

A new iteration of a previously-released document remains pending until you release
it on an implementing change form. At that time, you'll also cancel the preceding
document iteration by listing it on the same change.

At most, only one pending iteration and one released iteration can exist; any
number of canceled iterations can exist.